Wedding, Film: The Divorcée, & Concert: Decameron Musicale

I had the last three days off work - up to Thursday - I was at a wedding in Leeds Castle! I'd never been before, so that promised to be cool - and I actually splashed out and stayed in the castle. I know the bride from Up in the Cheap Seats (UITCS), and a number of the group decided to go, for some or all of the celebrations - a people carrier was organised to/from London. The wedding celebrations themselves ran for two days - she's of Indian extraction, and Lordy, we were asked to wear Indian-inspired outfits! I finally got around to shopping for (two) outfits after the walk on Saturday - and no wonder it left me exhausted! 

First, I thought I'd try Zara - their stuff can be lovely. And wouldn't you know it, within five minutes I'd sourced a mini-dress - short enough to wear something under, sparkly, boho: and a gold, embellished coat (actually made in India). Outfit #1, in the bag! I then spent the next couple of hours trudging down Oxford Street, dropping into every shop I thought had possibilities.. When I finally lost hope, I decided to see where the nearest Monsoon was. Waterloo Station - on the way home - perfect. I got the bus down there - I tell you though, their branch of Monsoon was hard to find! I finally came across it upstairs. And lo, they had a half-price sale - and lo, there was a long dress (ankle-length on me) with a lovely cape detail and a vaguely exotic pattern. Falls beautifully. I got an Indian-style bracelet there too - and a pair of pink (they didn't have my size in red, which would have matched the dress better) ballet flats in Accessorize, downstairs.

So, all that got packed - it was the night before when I got details of what time, and where, to meet the taxi. Amazingly, I made it there early enough on Tuesday to grab a card, which I hadn't even thought of on Saturday - and when I made my way back to the meeting point, most of my travel companions were already there. Most turned out to know the bride from cruises - a couple had come specially from abroad for this! We all introduced ourselves, and in due course piled in for the long drive.

It certainly was comfy - and a number of passengers availed of the handy charging cables supplied. But it's a long way - and mostly motorway, at that. The final stretch was through woodland - and ooh, it was all worth it when, after passing the barrier and through extensive grounds, we got our first glimpse of the castle. You know, everyone I told about this, who knew the place, gasped in awe when they heard..

(Obviously, there's a golf course). Anyway, we were dropped at reception, which is in the Stables section of the accommodation - posh stables: I was to learn, later, that the rooms have names such as Niven and Churchill! Taxis aren't allowed any closer - we had to wait for golf buggies to take those of us staying in the actual castle, and our luggage. Actually, we were also to discover that staying in the castle itself is rare - we were only the second party allowed to stay there this year! although they certainly have the amenities.

Staff were on hand to carry our bags up for us - and when I found out where I was, I was glad of that! I was in the servants' quarters - specifically, the Ladies' Maid's room! and that's a whole lotta climbing..

Examining the fire escape plan, I was to discover that mine was the only room with its own dressing room! Well now..

The windows give tantalising glimpses of the moat, and other corners of the castle:

..not to mention all the corridors leading to parts unknown..

Most of our comings and goings involved the main staircase - it was rather cool that, as we were led upstairs, we went into the "private - access denied" section, and had to move the rope aside to enter: and, indeed, to leave!

(Note the ornate rafters in both these photos - they feature throughout, and probably date from the last private owner, Lady Baillie, who spent a fortune enhancing the place, and whose influence is felt throughout - her name even forms the basis of the WiFi password!)

(That's her in the large painting, with her daughters - pictured in the salon, the largest room in the castle, by the look of the window.)

After some time to relax and refresh - I ate the biscuits provided in my room, I hadn't had lunch! - we had a drinks reception (one kind alcoholic, the other non-alcoholic) in the library, with a view of the Maiden's Tower:

I met a lot of Meetup people there - UITCS and others. We had the exclusive use of the castle for the two days of the wedding! and could explore at will - and learned much about the queens of England that made this their home:

(All those books are protected by wire, by the way.)

In due course, we moved into the dining room beyond, where we were to discover the henna artists had set up, and we could stand, drink, and chat. The henna party is traditional the day before the wedding - I skipped being henna-ed, mind. Oh, and the musicians arrived - including a really loud drummer, who was to feature heavily over the two days!

Two gold elephants marked the way (there were another couple at the castle entrance):

There was a lot of dancing - and a lot of standing around.. but that's weddings for you. We were glad when the time came to shuffle off to dinner - not in the dining room of course, which was occupied, but in the salon, which we reached along a corridor lined with depictions of the queens that lived here:

Ah now, if Isabella (the "she-wolf of France") lived here from 1327-58 (her husband, Edward II's, death to her own), that means it was the castle in which she was kept under effective house arrest, after ordering his death. And more interestingly, if Catherine de Valois lived here from 1422-37 (again, her husband, Henry V's, death to her own), it means that this is where she had an illicit - and enduring - tryst with her Welsh minstrel, Owen Tudor.. leading to the birth of a number of children, and by which she became the grandmother of Henry VII, founder of the Tudor dynasty! (Sorry, but I hold to the theory that they never did marry.. it's never been proved, and Henry VII would have insisted that they were married, regardless of the truth..)

The last queen to live here only did so until the divorce:

The fireplace is, apparently, made of Caen stone. It was primarily the bridal couple who got the benefit though, sat at a table on their own, right in front of it. And as someone was to remark, what a great idea, to give them a chance to spend some time together!

Dinner, that first night, wasn't what guests or the family expected. The starter wasn't as described - but it was ok. But the pizza for main course.. well, the toppings were, to me, at least, identifiable. However, the base.. was awful! Dessicated, burnt to a crisp, tough as concrete - we joked about what you could use it for, considering the one thing you couldn't do was eat it. I got through about half, and at that, did better than most - then the outside was too tough to chew, so I concentrated on the centre.. finally gave up when just cutting it took too much effort. The couple spent the rest of the evening apologising to us, and I daresay the family tore a hole in the staff, who also apologised and promised to send out more food later. Nobody believed the excuse they offered - I was just astonished, not only that they would produce such a thing, but that they'd then serve it to paying guests! Dessert was some kind of milky thing, and was good.

Dancing followed, in a room with a multicoloured floor, whose squares kept changing colour. The music was so loud that some guests, presumably trying to sleep, complained! I took refuge in the library, where the UITCS crowd, most of whom were leaving at that point, had gathered. Also present was a guy with a high-tech selfie setup - not for personal selfies mind, these were going into a book to be presented to the couple. And he had props. So that was fun to watch for a while, and I got a couple of drinks from the paid bar before going to bed. A guy did come around with more pizza, but nobody fancied it by then. Couldn't stay up late to blog though - breakfast (the cooked variety at least) only ran till 9.30am..

The bed was wonderfully comfy and I slept well. Breakfast the following morning was at a long table in the dining room - not a terrific affair, a limited continental buffet. A menu was provided for cooked food - seeing butter on the table, I asked for toast, but off the full English, all I fancied were mushrooms and beans. And when they finally came, the beans seemed to have gone the way of the previous night's pizza - almost no sauce, not very nice.

After that, I decided to have an impromptu peek at the castle! Went down a different corridor, on a whim, and followed my nose - and wow, that was how I got an idea of the size of the place! Also found myself on the route of the public tour - going in the opposite direction, apparently, all the signs pointing back the way I'd come! At one point, a confused attendant came across me, but I brandished the wristband we were all provided with, indicating our right to explore, as residents.

I discovered a hidden courtyard - apparently designed by Catherine of Aragón to remind her of the Spanish castles she grew up in - which we had passed en route to the previous night's dinner, but hadn't seen in the dark!

Yes, apparently Joan of Navarre was accused of witchcraft, which they still believed in at the time. Her imprisonment might have had more to do with facilitating the confiscation of her dowry though, for the 100 years' war..

Yes, I can imagine it's beautiful at Christmas. I've seen photos of the castle under a blanket of snow..

Continuing on my wanderings, I came across what I guessed were Lady Baillie's reconstructed apartments:

..and the most gorgeous, wooden spiral staircase!

And wow, I managed to come round the other way to the salon, and could sneak a preview of that night's place settings!

More reconstructions:

The games room:

The banqueting hall:

When it came time for the evening's festivities, the decor had changed:

Delighted to say, the kitchen redeemed itself with its second dinner - the lady who tidied my room (I happened to be there at the time), when I described the first dinner to her, said it was really unusual. Well, the second dinner started with an amuse-bouche - lovely, if a teensy bit spicy. For main, I had the chicken, some the fish - and both were proclaimed excellent. Afterwards, we trooped outside - in the bitter cold - for fireworks:

Sorry, no photos of the actual fireworks, displayed to the tune of Livin' on a Prayer. It was nice that they were reflected in the moat, though. But with the cold, we were delighted to get back inside, where the cake had been cut - I had it in the Thorpe Drawing Room, where they kept a fire burning on both nights:

I did get the last blog post done that night! Left the dancers to it, on a dancefloor that was now sparkly.

The following morning, I knew not to have the "full English" - so I ordered toast, and pancakes with maple syrup. Only one slice, as opposed to two the day before - and two pancakes, which were fine. I skipped the streaky bacon on top. By the sight of the beans someone else was having, I made the right decision, not to have them. Of course, we were all rushing.. on the instruction sheets in our rooms, we were told that late checkout wasn't available, because they had another event on that day.. in fact, when I said it to the bride, whom I met at breakfast, she said these had been literally the only two days they could get, the place was otherwise completely booked up!

As I left the dining room, I ran into the staff - the guy in charge asked whether I was packed, and when I said I wasn't quite, he said he'd give me 15 minutes, then bring down my bag for me. In the event, he gave me 20, then got someone in a buggy to take the bags back to reception. I joined a few others on a tour of the grounds. One was obsessed with doing the maze - now, I'm not great at mazes at the best of times, and I'd heard someone else say that this was a particularly difficult one. So I didn't.

I explored the children's play area - where the castle theme is much in evidence. There's a miniature fort, with a slide and such:

The castle theme is also continued in the crazy golf:

When they emerged, safe and sound, from the maze, we made our way up to the hunting bird area, where they keep a number, who are brought out for displays. Many were hiding in their cages, but in all cases we found interesting facts on the information boards in front. Some were more inclined to be photographed:

Some were outside (tied up):

And hey, we came across a cage with two kookaburras!

We split after that, and I went for lunch in the Castle View restaurant - and a good job too, as it was to be the only proper meal I had all day! I had lemon chicken, which was ok, if slightly bland, and a nice wine.

Of our travel party, a few had ducked out early, one for a meeting, the others to catch flights. Of the rest, I was back first, two of the others arrived a little after the driver, but still in time for a departure as scheduled. And that left one person staying in a local pub. We were all prepared to pick him up there - except he decided to hike back to the castle, for convenience. It wasn't terribly convenient, as he couldn't give us an accurate description of where he was, and we couldn't figure it out. And all of that made us late, ironically. Still, I wasn't in a hurry, and gee, my heart have a little leap for joy when I realised we were back in London. This is home, always has been since I moved here.

I figured, even before we knew what time we were coming back, that we should be back in time for me to head to the Cinema Museum again, this time with London Social & Cultural Meetup, for The Divorcee.. and so it proved, and I had time to drop my case at home and chill for an hour or so before I headed out again. Found a back route to the museum from Elephant & Castle, and arrived shortly after the organiser - there was hardly any queue. And as we chatted, she told me about a film app called Flicks - I think she probably did before, and I forgot about it. Anyway, this time I installed it..

It wasn't long before we were let in and made our way upstairs. I was peckish, so grabbed a bag of Maltesers at the cafe - wanted to pay by card, and was told the Maltesers cost £1, but there was a £2 card minimum. So I simply bought two. Got a glass of wine as well, and joined the organiser at a decent seat near the front. There was only one other member coming, and a guest. Before the film, one of the staff gave an introduction, telling us about the star, Norma Shearer, and how strange it seemed that her name wasn't better known.

This was part of the Women & Cocaine series that they run, and true to the others in the series, it involves a scandalous woman. In this case, she discovers that her beloved husband has been unfaithful - he tries to convince her that it means nothing, and while she pretends that she has just as free and easy an attitude, in reality she is desperately hurt, and decides to play him at his own game. When she reveals this to him, however, he turns on her, and the marriage ends. She decides to make the most of her new-found freedom.. but finds that this isn't the life she wants at all..

Wow, it's dated - and seeing it, I think I probably have seen it before, on daytime TV when I was a kid, when they showed old movies on Saturday afternoons. Oh, the attitudes towards women - as is pointed out in the film, what's sauce for the goose is definitely not sauce for the gander. He can cheat and expect to be forgiven - she can't. And there's probably not a single man in the film whose attitude is above reproach - to our eyes. As someone quite rightly remarked as we came out-  well, men haven't changed at all in the last 100 years, have they?! Having said that - as the lady said in the introduction, this film was shocking for its time, in that it didn't condemn her! Instead, it's sympathetic, covers the story from her point of view, and she gets absolutely the best lines. I can well see why she got an Oscar - her only one - it's quite modern in its portrayal of her, and she's a well-rounded character. Definitely a film worth considering, rather than dismissing as a social construct from another time. They always pick good films, here. Anyway, I was glad to be home early - it'd been a busy day. Not in time to complete what is a substantial blog post, though!

Yesterday evening, I was excited to be heading, for the first time, with the Authentic Medieval Music Meetup, to hear Rune, a medieval group, perform a concert inspired by The Decameron in the Church of St. Bartholomew the Great! Tickets online same price as on the door. Mind you now, despite it technically being a Meetup, I do believe the Meetup group was formed specifically to promote the band. Hey, fine by me.. I contacted the Old Red Cow pub, nearby, about dinner - they don't have online booking - and never did hear about that..

I rang them yesterday afternoon - no record of the booking, but they could definitely accommodate me. Off I set - and on the bus, wow, the lady across from me could really have done with blowing her nose, rather than sniffling all the time. Alighted at last, and had a bit of a walk to get there - the bus had been delayed, and I made the pub about five minutes late. Not a problem, the upstairs dining area was nearly empty. I took my seat and was quickly served - decided on the steak & ale pie. It was certainly cold enough outside to crave comfort food. The wine is excellent - their Sauvignon Blanc is Marlborough - and wow, the pie was piping hot, and really tasty, as was the gravy. Served with vegetables, gravy on the side - and I had a choice of chips or mash. I was to be so sorry I ordered mash - it was stone cold, and unusually for me, I left it. The rest, as I say, was excellent.

It was only a short walk to the church:

I love this church - and on the way in, had to take a picture of the statue; I've seen it so many times, but I recently re-read A Book of Bones, in which it features prominently, the climactic scene taking place in this church:

I could have got a drink - but frankly, it'd been years since I was last here, and I just wanted to get in and take in the atmosphere:

With open seating, I seated myself near the front - and we got fetching brochures:

Ah, it was stunning - although I did prefer the sung pieces, personally. And what a location for them! During the show, they explained their medieval instruments briefly..

There were two singers - one female, one male, who also briefly played something like a bodhran. A violinist, and the guy with what looked very like a piano accordion (both pictured) - he also played the recorder. And an Irish harpist, who spotted one of her pupils in the audience! I won't go into any real detail, as I didn't recognise any of the pieces - but it was heavenly to listen to. And everyone's ears pricked up at the announcement of a medieval carol concert they're doing here.. two performances the same evening, because of anticipated demand. Tickets for that don't seem to be on sale yet - I did check. Watch this space..

I did most of this post last night, but it's been a monster to get out - delighted finally to finish it! Now, I planned film for the weekend - and remember how I installed the Flicks app? I have to give due credit to the London Social & Cultural Meetup organiser, it's made an absolute sea-change in my life! No longer do I have to bother with that blasted old listings site, which is never completely updated until the week whose listings it's describing is nearly over - no, Flicks is much more up to date.. and what's more, I can order the listings - by rating! They do use Rotten Tomatoes (RT) - but to be fair, I could do with a change from IMDB anyway, they have a problem with overrating some films. And RT does highly rate some of the generally acknowledged good films. What's more, you can store a watchlist - and for each film, you can list the venues in order of distance from a specified location! Default is your current location. For a specified day (chosen from the list of available days), they show the different listings for each cinema - and lo, you can click on the time you want, for the cinema you want, and be taken straight to the booking page. It's so easy, it's unreal - and instead of the film list (which I can now scrap) taking hours, I was literally done and dusted in terms of deciding a film - within half an hour.

So - highest rated (on RT) that had a listing for today and that I was interested in and hadn't seen - was the new Paul Thomas Anderson film, One Battle After Another - apparently about retired revolutionaries rescuing the daughter of one of them, who has been kidnapped by an old adversary. A star-studded cast (as ever, for this guy's films) includes Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn, and Benicio del Toro. (To be fair, IMDB also rates it highly.) Closest showing to me - for once - is the Everyman Borough, which is my closest, but almost never has the best films - I picked the later showing, without which (again!) I couldn't have finished this post - and wouldn't you know it, both showings were nearly sold out when I checked! So I booked. Also booked The Old Thameside Inn, which I love, for dinner beforehand. Another where you have to wait for them to get back to you, but this time, they did pretty quickly. And I can walk to both.

For tomorrow, of the next-highest-rated films on Flicks, best looks like Sorry, Baby, which is rated much higher there than on IMDB. It's been out a while, so by now the closest showing to me is in the Ritzy - and not selling out.

On Monday, I finally fly back to Ireland again - and it'll be a relief to get a wash on (there's a washing machine in my flat, but no dryer) and get at the rest of my wardrobe! I've been delayed in going back until now because my car broke down, but it's now fixed, and I need to get back - because I found out about something in Ireland on Tuesday that I'm dying to go to! Martin Shaw, the London storyteller - and you know how I love storytelling - is doing a tour, of Ireland only (now completely sold out), with none other than Tommy Tiernan! They're doing a show called Between Dog and Wolf, and are playing Glór, the closest venue to me, on Tuesday. Couldn't miss that.. and I'm provisionally meeting an old friend for lunch at Jade Cottage, earlier that day.

I fly back to London on Wednesday evening - that'll be my last trip to Ireland before November - and on Thursday, the start of a six-day Meetup run, finally back with Mandy Morrow, who's running a new type of event called Rat-Arsed Tours! (Historic walk and pub crawl, basically.) Tickets available from Eventbrite, and it is starting in St. James. Somewhere.

On Friday, finally back with UITCS, who are going to Sadler's Wells for R:Evolution, by the English National Ballet. Oh, it's months since I was last there.. Eating at The Wilmington beforehand.

Next weekend is all about The Hideout, for the month that's in it! Next Saturday, the first of four days of horror for me, we're on a field trip.. to Shocktober! Running at Tully's Farm, it promises shows, scares, fairground rides.. a maze with zombies that chase you with chainsaws.. also food and drink. We're taking a train from Victoria together - and as usual, I found Uber cheapest.

On the 5th, we're headed to A Nightmare on Elm Street - oh, I just love that film! Showing in the Prince Charles - and of course, I'm in Bella Italia beforehand. It'll have been nearly a fortnight - wonder whether they wonder where I've been!

On the 6th, back with London Classical Music and Theatre Group for the last day of Sicilian Vespers at the Royal Opera House. Continuing the horror theme, even the publicity shot for this shows skulls.. Again, it's months since I was last here, or with this group. Eating in Cote Covent Garden beforehand - even though it's on early, it's a long one, so I'll have to eat beforehand.

On the 7th, finally back - for the first time in nearly a year! - with the Horror Book Club! Not a book club meeting per se - I never have time to read them - this is a panel, in Waterstone's - of new horror writers, discussing what's current.

And on the 8th, finally back with storytelling at Torriano! Hosted, as ever, by Nell Phoenix, it's - again - months since I was there. On this occasion, the performance is Lilith: The Other Side of the Story..